A video produced by BBC News features the personal accounts of Karen Cockburn and Chris Knighton, both of whom lost their husbands to mesothelioma.

Chris founded the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund, which seeks to raise awareness of mesothelioma as well as money for research, in memory of her husband, Mick. He was diagnosed in August 2000, and passed away 7 months later. Vowing that he would not die in vain, and recognizing the numbers of people affected by asbestos exposure, she started the Fund in 2002.

Soon, the organization also established a Snowdrop Fund, which allows others affected by mesothelioma to set up fundraising efforts as tributes to their loved ones. The MKMRF helps to organize and promote these activities.

MyMeso.org recently featured one of these Snowdrop Funds, the Bob Tolley Mesothelioma Snowdrop Fund, established by his daughter, Christine.

According to Chris Knighton, by pooling the Snowdrop Funds with the money raised directly by the Mick Knighton Mesothelioma Research Fund, a greater impact can be made on research into the disease. There currently is no government funding for mesothelioma research in the UK.

The Snowdrop is a flower, which Chris said she chose because it “works so hard through the depths of despair in the winter, yet come the spring it pushes through the ground bringing hope and promise for the future to everyone who sees it. We hope these funds will give hope and promise to all who take part.”

For more information about establishing your own Snowdrop Fund, contact cknighton-mkmrf@btconnect.com or telephone 0191 2637386 in the UK.